The present invention relates to a magnetic recording medium, and more particularly to a magnetic recording medium capable of perpendicular magnetization recording.
Magnetic recording utilizing perpendicular magnetization has been studied in recent years for increasing the recording density of magnetic recording mediums. The magnetic recording medium used in this type of magnetic recording is composed of a base made of a non-magnetic material, a first megnetic layer made of a soft magnetic material coated on a surface of the base, and a second magnetic layer having perpendicular anisotropy and coated on a surface of the first magnetic layer. Desired data can be recorded in a high density by magnetizing the second magnetic layer in a transverse direction thereof or a perpendicular direction.
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings shows in cross section such a magnetic medium for perpendicular magnetization and a recording head used for perpendicular magnetization. The base 1 is made of a non-magnetic material such as synthetic resin such as polyester or polyimide or an aluminum sheet subjected to anodic oxidization. The first magnetic layer 2 of a soft magnetic material and the second magnetic layer 3 are successively formed on the surface of the base 1 to thereby construct the perpendicular-magnetization recording medium in the form of a tape or a disk.
The recording head is composed of a main magnetic pole 5 and an auxiliary magnetic pole 6 which are disposed one on each side of the magnetic recording medium. The main magnetic pole 5 has a thickness of about 1.mu. and is deposited as by sputtering on one surface of a support body 4 made of a nonmagnetic material such as glass or polyimide. A predetermined number of turns of an exciting coil 7 are wounded around the auxiliary magnetic pole 6. When the main magnetic pole 5 is excited from the auxiliary magnetic pole 6 by passing a signal current to be recorded through the exciting coil 7, a strong perpendicular magnetic field is generated in the vicinity of the tip end of the main magnetic pole 5 for magnetically recording the signal on the second magnetic layer 3 confronting the main magnetic pole 5.
For proper recording on the second magnetic layer 3 in perpendicular magnetization recording, it is necessary that the tip end of the main magnetic pole 5 be located so closely to the second magnetic layer 3 that the main magnetic pole 5 is held in contact with the second magnetic layer 3.
With the conventional magnetic recording mediums, the first magnetic layer 2 is made of an alloy of iron and nickel or permalloy composed of such an alloy with copper and molybdenum added thereto, and the second magnetic layer 3 is made of an alloy of cobalt and chromium. Cobalt is of a hexagonal close-packed lattice (h, c, p) structure having a large crystallomagnetic anisotropy in the direction of the c-axis, and hence is used as a main component of the second magnetic layer 3.
Since the second magnetic layer 3 is constituted of an alloy of cobalt and chromium in the conventional perpendicular-magnetization recording medium, a coefficient of dynamic friction of the second magnetic layer 3 with respect to the main magnetic pole is high and the second magnetic layer 3 is less slidable, the coefficient of dynamic friction being increased as the sliding movement is repeated. The second magnetic layer 3 is liable to be worn or peeled off during use, making the service life of the magnetic recording medium shorter or damaging the magnetic head.
To eliminate the above drawback, it has been attempted to form a lubricating protective film on the surface of the second magnetic layer 3. The protective film however keeps the second magnetic layer 3 and the main magnetic pole 5 substantially spaced from each other, with the results that the advantage of the second magnetic layer 3 with cobalt serving as a main component will not sufficiently be exhibited, and performance is lowered.